Description
The Parco del Valentino is Turin's best-known public park: 42 hectares along the left bank of the Po, in the San Salvario district, right beside the old town. Among its paths you come across a Savoy castle, a medieval village and monumental fountains.
It is where the people of Turin go to stroll, run and stretch out on the grass, and for visitors it is a green break a few steps from the center. A walk along the river and among the flower beds takes at least a couple of hours.
The Medieval Village, to the south, is the first thing to see: a village rebuilt in 1884 for the Italian General Exhibition, inspired by the castles of Piedmont and the Aosta Valley, with a fortress you can visit. Today it hosts exhibitions and events.
The Valentino Castle was built between 1630 and 1660 by Carlo and Amedeo di Castellamonte as a summer residence for the Savoys. Today it is part of the Savoy residences declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The Fountain of the Twelve Months by Carlo Ceppi is a large Rococo basin surrounded by twelve statues, one for each month: it was built in 1898 for the Italian General Exhibition.
The rest is gardens: the flowering beds of the floral area, the Rock Garden and the Mountain Garden, with little waterfalls, fountains and small streams, and sensory paths. At the north entrance, a triumphal arch remembers the artillerymen.
A park that bears the name of the patron saint of lovers. Documents from the 1200s show that here on the Po there was a chapel of St. Valentine, with some of his relics brought from Terni. The name stuck.
Before it belonged to everyone, the park was the Savoys': Emmanuel Philibert bought the area in the mid-1500s. From the 1800s the city was growing fast and needed greenery, and the French landscape architect Barillet-Deschamps redesigned it in the English style, with winding paths and romantic views.
Then came the great exhibitions, in 1884, 1898 and 1911, and each left something behind. Almost all the buildings were temporary: only a few have survived to this day.
The floral shows of the 1900s, such as FLOR 61 for the centenary of Italian unification, left the wide flower beds, the Rock Garden and the Mountain Garden.
Don't miss
• The Medieval Village.
• The Valentino Castle.
• The Fountain of the Twelve Months.
• The Rock Garden.
Did you know?
• A column near the entrance of the Medieval Village marks the floods of the Po: the highest was on October 17, 1839.
• The park hosted the Eurovision Village in 2022, when Turin organized the Eurovision Song Contest.
It is where the people of Turin go to stroll, run and stretch out on the grass, and for visitors it is a green break a few steps from the center. A walk along the river and among the flower beds takes at least a couple of hours.
The Medieval Village, to the south, is the first thing to see: a village rebuilt in 1884 for the Italian General Exhibition, inspired by the castles of Piedmont and the Aosta Valley, with a fortress you can visit. Today it hosts exhibitions and events.
The Valentino Castle was built between 1630 and 1660 by Carlo and Amedeo di Castellamonte as a summer residence for the Savoys. Today it is part of the Savoy residences declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The Fountain of the Twelve Months by Carlo Ceppi is a large Rococo basin surrounded by twelve statues, one for each month: it was built in 1898 for the Italian General Exhibition.
The rest is gardens: the flowering beds of the floral area, the Rock Garden and the Mountain Garden, with little waterfalls, fountains and small streams, and sensory paths. At the north entrance, a triumphal arch remembers the artillerymen.
A park that bears the name of the patron saint of lovers. Documents from the 1200s show that here on the Po there was a chapel of St. Valentine, with some of his relics brought from Terni. The name stuck.
Before it belonged to everyone, the park was the Savoys': Emmanuel Philibert bought the area in the mid-1500s. From the 1800s the city was growing fast and needed greenery, and the French landscape architect Barillet-Deschamps redesigned it in the English style, with winding paths and romantic views.
Then came the great exhibitions, in 1884, 1898 and 1911, and each left something behind. Almost all the buildings were temporary: only a few have survived to this day.
The floral shows of the 1900s, such as FLOR 61 for the centenary of Italian unification, left the wide flower beds, the Rock Garden and the Mountain Garden.
Don't miss
• The Medieval Village.
• The Valentino Castle.
• The Fountain of the Twelve Months.
• The Rock Garden.
Did you know?
• A column near the entrance of the Medieval Village marks the floods of the Po: the highest was on October 17, 1839.
• The park hosted the Eurovision Village in 2022, when Turin organized the Eurovision Song Contest.